“Aish that guy!”

Berating the male intern a dozen times in a day became her daily doze without which she felt her day incomplete. Especially when she watches him talking gleefully to each and every one in the office, even the tight-expression supervisor Jung seemed quite taken with his jovial attitude. He was slowly becoming the breeze of life around the boring office.

On contrary, as far as Gi Yeon was concerned, his loud cheerful voice prick pins on her skin.

“I hate him so much!”

She slammed her notebook and pen on her desk, the quake shook her small possessions resting on the table.

Yet another meeting where the team member were pitching ideas regarding the advertisment strategies for a new line of perfumes, and her “rival” was once again the star of the show. Like seriously, how could he come up with several ideas within minutes, Gi Yeon mused, “My brain can merely come up with one!”

And even that was after a very thorough consideration.

“That awful horse-face… How does he do it?”

“Do what?”

Gi Yeon spun around at the warm breath near her ear, “Ne? Ah…uhh..n-nothing sunbae…”

“Here,” Jung Min extended a cup of coffee towards her, ignoring being called ‘sunbae’. He couldn’t complain since he calls her ‘coffee’ most of the time.

The girl looked up at him quizzically –and a bit suspiciously.

“What? I didn’t poison it or anything. Just coffee.”

“Why?”

“Well, we didn’t really start on the right footing and I wanted to apologize for the joke I played that time so…”

He explained, giving his famous megawatt smile that could bind any girl but the girl in question was unaffected, at least she acted unaffected.

 “No thank you, I don’t drink coffee.”

--- ---

Ma Gi Yeon could very well blame the silly nickname Jung Min had given her to accentuate her anger towards him but she knew that she totally mucked it up at the office with that guy. She didn’t plan giving such a cold reply to him but she did and now it was time to regret and pull hairs off her cleanly made ponytail.

“Yah yah stop now! You’re going to turn yourself bald at this rate,” Gi Yeon’s flat-mate and friend Ji Rin more or less yelled near her ears, swatting away her hands from the hairs. The music blasting all around them was making the act of hearing and being heard a feat in itself.

Gi Yeon’s shoulders deflated. “Why do I make such horrible mistakes Ji Rin ah?! Urgh!! I must have looked like a brat to him.”

“You’re not a brat and everyone make mistakes. Tell you what…” Ji Rin slung an arm around the shorter girl’s shoulder, “Next time you see him, just go and apologize. Simple.”

Gi Yeon turned her pouting face towards the other and sighed. “I guess you’re right.”

“Yes, I am.” Pulling her arm back the girl pushed a glass towards her whining friend, “Now, I brought you here to forget everything so stop thinking and start drinking!”

Gi Yeon promptly waved her hands, “No can do! I have to work tomorrow!”

“Aigoo, who works on Sunday? And I’m not asking you to get wasted… just a glass or two!”

“Yeah… but I have to do some research work tomorrow…”

Truth be told, she was not-so kindly informed by many of her friend back in her hometown that she shouldn’t drink for the sake of humanity. Besides, her tolerance level was nothing to be desired.

Ji Rin simply gaped at her unbelievably. “Don’t make me shove the glass in your throat!” She threatened and kept staring at the other until Gi Yeon eventually groaned at her stubbornness and gulped down a shot before coughing and making faces.

However, she still felt sad and stupid, and a little nauseated being unable to handle crowds and loud music at best. But despite feeling stuffed at being at this little club for about an hour, Gi Yeon couldn’t shake off her friend’s enthusiasm about the local bands of musician performing at the podium at the other end. Ji Rin hooted excitedly for the last band of young boys, giving off hint that she knew them somehow.

While the altar was being cleared, Gi Yeon turned to the other girl.

“Can we go now Ji Rin ah?!”                                                         

After three shots, she could feel a steady beat in her temples. But the taller girl seemed unwilling. “Aww, but we’ve only been here for an hour…”

“Fine then you can stay.” Picking up her bag, Gi Yeon had just stood up when her hand was grabbed. Facing the friend giving her best pitiful face wasn’t helping Gi Yeon being adamant.

“Just one more performance, I swear we’ll leave after that.”

Sighing, she agreed.

No sooner than she took a seat again, the strumming of guitar started followed by the vocals. Looking through the heads of all the people ahead, she spotted a boy in a very simple white tee and jeans but managing to look like a professional model.

“Maybe we can go after this one performance,” she murmured to no-one.

--- ---

“Excuse me, that last guy with the guitar…can you tell me where did he go?”

“If he hadn’t left already you might be able to find him in the waiting room.”

After thanking, Gi Yeon followed the staff worker’s direction to a narrow hallway leading to the backdoor out of the club. Holding her bag in one hand, Gi Yeon’s other hand had a silver chain dangling between her fingers.

Turning a corner, she found a guy leaning lightly against one of the walls, herded around by three young girls talking animatedly to him.

“That looks like him,” musing she called out, “Excuse me,” assuming the guy would turn to her but the effect was opposite as he gave one glance over his shoulder, groaned in disapproval and hurried his steps towards the waiting room.

“Jamkanman—Yah!”

Her heels gave her a little backdrop but as soon as she reached the door, it was about to close. Automatically her hand flung up to show the chain in her hand but ill-fatedly the wrong one came into action, coming to shoot through the small opening. “Yah why are you running away? I just want to give you back your…”

Gi Yeon couldn’t complete her sentence when it all happened too quickly for her to react. One minute she eyed her hand being pulled slightly, then just as suddenly it was pushed back, the door finally coming to a firm close.

The snickers of those young girls made her bristling all the more worse as she looked at her forearm, now bearing that guy’s signature and a message ‘live and let live.’

“What the…argh! Jerk!”

So, who's this new guy? I think the hints are quite clear, no? (^^)